Pokemon: The Shadow
by Apples Who Dance With Oranges
Summary: Creatures known as Shadow Pokemon have thrown the region of Kanto into chaos as they attack Humans and Pokemon without mercy. In order to fight back Ash joins up with the Kanto Military along with Pikachu and friends. Now, war has engulfed all of Kanto as the two forces clash in one final all out war. Does Ash and the others have what it takes to win, or will they die trying?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One. I hope you guys like the idea of the story because I thought it was pretty cool when I first thought of it awhile ago! If you do like it please leave me a review, because those reviews really do motivate me to work harder and upload more! I know thee are a few grammar mistakes but please don't be to harsh. Enjoy and review!**

"Watch out for those, Flame Throwers!" Twenty year old Ash Ketchum cried out loudly as a stream of fire ripped through the air between him and Pikachu, the two of them ignoring the blast of fire as they continued their advance across the rooftops of Pallet Town. Ash was had been a proud soldier of the Kanto Royal Corps for two years now and had risen to the rank of Lance Corporal, even though he was due in for a promotion soon. Proud and determined Ash wore the uniform proudly along with his Pokemon partner, Pikachu.

The uniform was the basic field uniform for all soldiers within the ranks of enlisted soldiers. It consisted of durable combat boots, with tan field trousers that were tucked within his boots neatly, he wore a light gray t-shirt with a dark gray battle blouse over it, the battle blouse had his unit patch along with his rank insignia on it, he wore a dark gray patrol cap that hid his jet back hair, and a gayish tan utility belt with overalls that held his throwing projectiles along with other tools. At his hip was his standard issued sword that all lower ranking soldiers were given and trained with.

Ash was very proud to be wearing such a honorable uniform and additionally to his uniform he wore a black arm band that had the letters MP in white on them. That resembled the Military Police, as their duty the Military Police took care of all laws broken within and outside the military, they guarded the populated areas of Kanto along with its surrounding areas, and were sometimes assigned to assisting the basic Infantry whose jobs were to clear out areas like mountains, thick wooded areas, and many more terrain. Although, they had different jobs both the Military Police and Infantry worked together very often.

The enemy however was not Humans from other regions, but a deadly enemy that had caused chaos across Kanto for nearly one hundred years.

Shadow Pokemon!

_Shadow Pokemon- They hold all the basic characteristics of a normal Pokemon, but are violent towards others both Human and Pokemon. One hundred years ago the first Shadow Pokemon was spotted attacking a village within the mountains, since then more and more started appearing. Being trained since day one of their lives to be violent towards all who opposed them Shadow Pokemon became a huge threat. A normal Pokemon and a Shadow Pokemon can be easily identified as Shadow Pokemon have a collection of black tattoo like markings all over them that act as visual birth marks. _

"Ash take two others and flank them from the left!" A voice boomed loudly as Ash recognized it as no other than his close friend and squad leader, Brock Stone. The two of them had joined at different times, but it was amazing luck that when Brock obtained the rank of Sergeant he was granted the ability to chose his own squad explaining the reason why his squad was so close knit and one of the most recognized for teamwork.

Ash quickly came to a halt on top of a near by building as Pikachu landed right beside him, the two looked around as they watched the rest of his squad advancing behind him as Brock and him had taken the lead on their roof top advance. The target was a group of Magmar being lead by a Magmortar, all of them were fierce Shadow Pokemon that had been attacking the Pallet Town area for weeks now and had finally decided to attack the heart of the area, Pallet Town Center.

"Misty, Ritchie, and May! Follow me!" Ash called out as the three soldiers landed right next to him all nodding at him. Ash was in charge of the team of four as he was highest ranking of them with Misty who held the rank of Private First Class as his second in command, while Ritchie and May held the rank of Private. The girls wore the same uniform as the men just one that formed to their more feminine body type, but they all carried the same sword.

Ash led the way as he separated from Brock and the others who continued their advance towards, Town Center. Along with their weapons they all had a Pokemon as their companion, Misty had Corsola, Ritchie had his Pikachu nicknamed Sparky, and May had her Combusken. Besides that they all were highly trained soldiers regardless of their rank.

"So, Ashy how does it feel knowing that you got a promotion coming up?" Misty teased jokingly as Brock had put in a well deserve promotion request for Ash, but with all the sudden chaos that the Shadow Pokemon had been creating it kept getting pushed back for when the Military Police weren't so needed.

Ash glared at her annoyingly, "How does it feel being a rank below me?"

"Can you love birds stop you're fighting!" May called out with a loud sigh as the two soldiers quickly gave her an angry glare, Pikachu laughing at the usual argument between the two.

"Flame Thrower, twelve o'clock!" Ritchie cried out as Ash's eyes widen up as he quickly pushed off the side of a roof top and just barely dodged the incoming stream of fire. With this the team all came to a stop as it was obvious they were now very close to Town Center, the rest of the squad was now visible as they were trying their best to distract the Shadow Pokemon long enough so Ash's team could drop behind them.

Misty quickly joined Ash behind a stone chimney, "What's the plan?"

Ash took a moment to think he had ran into this group of fire types multiple times in the past and knew how powerful they were, he knew Combusken wouldn't be much help but he also knew May was very accurate with her throwing knives. Misty and Corsola were the key soldiers within this formation as she had the fire type's weakness. Ritchie was fresh out of basic training, but he was very fast with his sword and Sparky was much faster.

"Here's the plan... May you'll keep on the rooftops keeping them all busy with everything you have, Ritchie and I will head to the ground and take out the Magmar along with the rest of the squad, and Misty you stay hidden until the proper opening on Magmortar is available, " Ash ordered as everyone took a moment to take in the order and all at once they all nodded in agreement. With this they all sprung into action all at once, Misty quickly dipping into a near by alley way to wait for her opening.

"Hey, Fire Heads!" May called out as she threw three throwing knives into the air, all three finding their ways deep into the back of a near by Magmar. Crying out in pain the Magmar spun around his eyes bloodshot as he prepared to unleash a fiery blast at the female soldier, but before he could Combusken sent him flying back with a Upper Cut.

"Pikachu Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered as Pikachu quickly shocked a near by Magmar with a deadly bolt of electricity, badly paralyzing the Shadow Pokemon. Giving the Magmar no time to react as Ash came in and with one mighty swing of his sword the Magmar dropped the ground. Ash had to admit at first he felt weird about fighting enemy Pokemon in such ways, but after seeing the destruction they could cause on his first week of service he quickly changed his mind.

Flames were scattered throughout the Town Center as the fire types were attempting to burn down everything in order to trap the soldiers in a ring of fire, but Brock had seen this trap many times before and knew how to beat it. The only way to beat such a trap like this was to fall into it as Brock learned, instead of staying back from the fire Brock rushed forward with his war hammer that he got to choose due to his rank of Sergeant. Close beside Brock was his loyal companion, Sudowoodo.

"Sudo!" Sudowoodo called out as he locked hands with a near by Magmar, his rock type advantage allowing him to endure the hot flames being emitted from its body. The Magmar at first believed this was just a challenge of strength, but than he realized he had fallen into a trap himself. Brock would usually send in Sudowoodo to match his enemies' strength and than Brock would move in.

"You won't be killing anymore innocent people!" Brock cried out angrily as he launched himself high into the air and with all his strength he brought down his war hammer right on top of Magmar's head. Brock although wanted to be a breeder and not a soldier, he knew from all his research that Shadow Pokemon were to dangerous to be left alone. Especially, with so many siblings too protect Brock refused to stop fighting until they were all safe.

Than Misty saw it!

Her opening...

"Water Gun!" Misty cried out as Corsola unleashed a powerful blast of water that shot right through a weakened Magmar by May and smashed right into Magmortar, the leader of the Shadow Pokemon group cried out in pain as the water was like acid to his skin. With his armored skin weakened by the water Ash quickly rushed forward running along the stream of water, sword at hand he ordered Pikachu to follow. The two jumped high into the air and attacked, Ash's blade piercing Magmortar's once harden armor as Pikachu did the same with an Iron Tail.

* * *

**Viridian City, Kanto**

**Military Police Bar**

"I promise you Ash, after todays performance I'll make sure you get that promotion!" Brock cried out happily as he took a large gulp from his glass and cried out in joy. Everyone laughed happily as it was a job well done today and they had finally stopped the group of Shadow Pokemon that had been burning down Pallet Town's crops.

"I took out three of those things today, how about you Ash?" Gary sneered smugly with a grin as he was also part of Brock's squad and held the rank of, Lance Corporal. While most squads had two Lance Corporals their squad was missing a second in command who would hold the rank of, Corporal. Ever since they both got promoted to their recent ranks they were competing for the rank of Corporal, but Gary knew very well who was getting it.

"Four!" Ash cried out in victory.

"The Magmortar doesn't count! Misty weakened it for you!" Dawn added on as everyone laughed loudly a the fact that Ash and Gary were one again tied as they always did. Dawn just like Ritchie had just completed her training and held the rank of Private, but that never stopped her and Piplup from being brave in the face of danger.

Suddenly, the door swung open to the bar as May rushed in beyond happy as everyone knew where she had just been. It was obvious May had been in the letter room and had received her weekly letter from Max, who had just been sent off to basic training not to long ago. At first Max desired to join the Infantry, but after hearing all the stories May had to tell from being in the Military Police he quickly changed his mind. Brock sent in a request for Max to join is squad, but with many casualties coming in there was no telling where they'd place him.

Following behind May was a young Corporal and his Furret, the soldier quickly saluted Brock before speaking out loud. "Sergeant. Stone, your squad is scheduled for resupply!"

Brock simply nodded and the soldier rushed off, everyone grinned widely as the had been waiting for months to get their weapons replaced.

* * *

The armory was large and Brock quickly closed the door behind them as the last member of the squad entered. Drew was the final member of the squad who hadn't been in the bar, the green haired soldier held the rank of Private and was a great addition to the team along with his Roselia. The armory was large and they were only permitted to take what was needed to be replaced.

"Pikachu finally I can get a new sword," Ash chuckled as his old sword was all worn out and he was surprised it had the sharpness to pierce Magmortar's armored skin. Placing his old sword into the bin to be repaired Ash pulled out a brand new one, the blade was razor sharp, the hilt felt comfortable within his grasp, and the blade was slightly curved as Ash preferred it to be.

Next, was Ash's other weapons and tools. Emptying out his belt pouches he replaced all his throwing weapons, his hand cuffs, extendable riot stick, his smoke pellets, rations, and a few other tools he used. He also replaced his personal hunting knife that was located in its holster on his overalls.

May however had been waiting for this resupply as she picked up a new crossbow as her old one had been ripped apart by a, Shadow Granbull.

Misty had gotten permission to train with a bow as she believed their squad needed more than just one archer and May was happy to show Misty the ways of an archer.

The others kept to their basic weapons to be replaced as they all were just happy that they were finally be resupplied.

Ash grinned as he spun his sword quickly, he was prepared for anything that came a him or so he thought.

**I hope you guys liked the story so far! If you have any questions please ask!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two. I really hope you guys are liking the story so far! This chapter doesn't have any action really, but it's an important chapter that leads up to a few chapters of just pure action! Sorry for the grammar mistakes if there are any, enjoy and review!**

_Feet should be shoulder width apart._

_Don't grip the bow to hard, but not to light._

_Lock onto the target before raising the bow up._

_Draw the string back with a constant motion and enough strength._

_Lock your sights upon the target with the string fully pulled back._

_Relax your fingers and release..._

_THUMP!_

The arrow cut right through the air and slammed just an inch from the center of the circular target, Misty's eye lit up with joy at this sight as she was overcome with joy at this sight. May had been teaching her the ropes of using a bow and after five hours of constant training Misty was finally getting the hang of it. May clapped happily from the far side of the archery range, her crossbow laying on her lap as she tightened the string to a preferred tightness. Misty happily skipped across the shooting range and joined May at the small bench, a big smile still displayed on her face.

"You're really getting the hang of it!" May chirped happily as she pulled her crossbow up to her shoulder and practiced aiming down it, her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she did so.

"Thanks! I mean I'm not as good as you are, but maybe I'll be good enough to finally get that promotion to Lance Corporal!" Misty laughed happily as she knew with Ash moving up within rank soon that there'd be a open spot for Lance Corporal on the squad and she was the only one in the position to take over it, but there was always the chance they just wouldn't give it to her or give Brock a replacement for that rank.

May just grinned at her.

"What?" Misty cried out as she knew that grin all to well.

May just grinned even larger, "You know you don't have to get promoted to impress, Ash."

Misty simply turned bright red upon hearing this comment, "I'm not trying to impress anyone!"

The two girls just giggled as each other as they both knew each other all too well.

Without warning the door to the shooting range swung open causing several soldiers to loose their focus and miss their target, rushing into the room was a young Private his face bright red as he was gasping for air, "Are there any members of Sergeant. Brock Stone's squad in here?"

Misty and May both nervously rose their hands.

"You both are needed in the briefing tent, now!" He cried out as they both nodded at their order and quickly followed the young soldier down the main hall of the Military Police's base. They could tell that everyone in the base was looking oddly nervous and unsure of what was going on.

"What's going on?" Misty spoke up curiously.

The soldier didn't bother to turn around he just kept walking as he spoke, "There's a herd of Shadows coming down from the base of Mt. Silver! They've already taken out two platoons of Infantry soldiers and are heading this way, Command wants to send in your squad and six others to take them out."

May looked nervous, "What if we fail?"

The young soldier cringed at the thought, "They're on track directly towards our base and Viridian City... If you guys fail then the remainder of the base will evacuate the city and try to hold the herd off as long as possible... If you guys fail we'll loose a whole city to those beast!"

* * *

Ash stood there nervously as along with his squad there were six other squads all members of the Military Police who had heard about how this herd had completely wiped out two platoons of Infantry soldiers. The Chain of Commander kept reassuring them that the Infantry platoons wren't prepared for the herd, so it was nothing to worry about but Ash knew better. Their leader combat leader was the brave and brilliant man, Colonel. Koga. He had created a plan where all seven squads would split up and attack the herd from all different directions, he also assigned two scouts from the Military Police to accompany each squad as the scouts new the area outside the city the best. Koga had placed in a request for air support that would be led by the well know, Captain. Falkner.

"Go out there soldiers and do Kanto proud!" Koga roared loudly as every soldiers within the room saluted him, then finally Koga did something they no one had ever seen him do... He entered a full erected stance and saluted back screaming, "Long live Kanto!"

There was silence.

"We're screwed," Gary growled lowly as he knew if Koga was saluting them so proudly then this might as well of been a suicide mission.

"Lets move out, our two scouts are waiting for us at the stables!" Brock ordered loudly as whenever given a mission their squad leader and friend became very serious, as being in charge of a team of people he has know for most his life put a lot of stress on him to make sure they all got home safely.

The stress of being squad leader in charge of all his childhood friends was something that put a large amount of stress on Brock.

* * *

The stables was busy as the other squads were there also preparing their Ponyta for the mission, extra medic packs were loaded within the saddles along with rations. All the Ponyta in the stable were well trained for riding and knew basic fire type moves for aid in battle, now the Rapidash that were in the stable for only for the Military Police Scouts as they were trained properly in riding the agile and fast Pokemon. Ash quickly climbed onto his Ponyta along with Pikachu at his side, the two now focused on the two scouts that stood before them

Corporal. Paul Shin and Lance Corporal. Ryker Summers.

Paul had a Elekid as his Pokemon companion and Ryker had a Growlithe.

Both of them were fell known within the Scouting company for being great fighters and amazing riders. Ryker had short chocolate brown hair, his skin was lightly tanned, and his eyes were a playful hazel green. He wore the standard uniform with his sleeved rolled back slightly, a pair of goggles hanging around his neck, and wore an extra unit patch on his left breast pocket with the head of a Rapidash with the words, Military Police Scout on the top banner. It was the badge for all Scouts within the Military Police, a small company of them only existed they weren't elite but they were very strong.

"Alright listen closely! The Sergeant may be in charge of your squad, but I'm in charge of all the riding and scouting! If any of you wander off our course while riding we will not go back to get you! This mission is of great importance and I will not accept failure!" Paul roared loudly as he was well known for his serious nature and how personally he took his duty as a soldier, Ryker while still very professional soldier knew how to relax when off duty unlike Paul.

With this Paul and his Rapidash exited the stable at a slow pace waiting for the squad to fill in behind him.

"Now, I know all of you had to ride a Ponyta in basic training so hopefully you all remember that!" Ryker stated off with a chuckle as he could tell a few of them looked nervous about riding as it had been so long since their basic training days, "Just remember if you don't trust Ponyta then Ponyta won't trust you!"

With that Ryker rode right out of the stable and with that the others filled in, Paul made them all ride around the stables three times the first two laps being very rocky and rough but after the third lap everyone was starting to feel more confident in the Ponyta. Filling in behind Paul and Ryker was a simple formation, Brock was in the front with them, Ash and Gary were directly behind them, and the others formed a V like formation behind them spreading outwards. It was a basic formation used by Scouts in order to have a clear vision on what was before them, naturally their back was exposed but Paul didn't care as their mission was the advancing herd and he didn't want to waste man power covering their rear when there most likely wouldn't be a ambush from behind.

"Ride out!"

* * *

Ash watched as the six other squads raced across the grassy field all in similar formations, their scouting leaders taking the front with their Rapidash who could easily out run nearly any land Pokemon. Ash's eyes fell upon a flare located on his saddle that everyone was given for this mission, there were two rounds for it. The first was a green smoke that signaled that they pushed back the herd and the third was a red smoke... It signaled failure and the last soldier was suppose to fire it off.

After, twenty minutes of riding he noticed the other squads started disappearing as they began to take different routes so they could properly cut off the herd of Shadow Pokemon. Ash and the others were led into a forest not far from where the herd was last located, it wasn't nearly as thick as Viridian Forest but the trees did make it hard to see who was in front of you. Luckily, Ryker kept calling out every minute or two making sure no one got lost as he knew that they couldn't turn back.

"Gary, did you hear anything about the herd?" Ash asked curiously as Gary was the first one at the briefing room and may of heard some type of news.

Gary simply nodded.

"What was it?" Ash asked curiously as Gary's Umbreon also shared a nervous look on her face.

Gary was silent for a moment before speaking up, "The herd is a large one being led by a Tyranitar and two Aggron, the rest of the herd are a collection of lower level Pokemon."

There was silence as everyone had heard, Gary.

Everyone knew that Tyranitar and Aggron both were known for their armored skin, something that their swords couldn't pierce with ease. They were confident that they could take out the rest of the herd, but the three leaders would be the hardest thing about the mission.

Maybe even impossible.

"Shut up back there, we are almost there!" Ryker roared angrily as everyone knew that Paul and him were getting frustrated with the fact that the squad was already psyching themselves out.

"Come on squad lets give them all we got!" Brock roared loudly as they all burst out of the tree line and to see the herd before them in the center of a open field, the Tyranitar ranging from a much taller height then anyone thought a Pokemon his type could grow. Its Hyper Beam ripping apart the ground before him causing one of the squads who arrived earlier to scatter in fear of being hit.

This was it.

**Please share your thoughts with me!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three. So this chapter has lots of action and it's pretty fast pace due to the whole fact that they're riding on horse back pretty much so it's kind of hard to capture one moment when they all are riding one of the fastest land Pokemon! So, far I have a good amount of views which I'm happy about, no reviews but that's fine I guess. Enjoy and review!**

"Boulder nine o'clock!" Paul cried out as a human sized boulder flew through the air directly towards the squad, with quick tugs on the reins everyone was able to dodge the incoming boulder. Standing before them was a large Rhydon a devilish grin displayed across his face as he was breathing heavily, his black marks and rock hard armored skin making him a scary sight. Everyone cringed at the sight of the Rhydon who stood in their direct path, they knew someone had to take him out.

"Gary I want you-" Brock was about to give out an order when Paul caught him off with a hand in the air.

"Stay in formation!" Paul ordered loudly as he trusted Brock's decision as a squad leader, but he wasn't about to let him call an order that would leave their formation wide open. Paul looked over at Ryker who simply nodded and pulled back slightly so he was side by side with May and Drew, the two of them surprised when he signaled at them to follow him. With this Paul ordered for Dawn to take their spot in order to seal up the hole in the formation, with this done the formation was sealed up and Ryker took his team forward.

"How do you expect us to take down a Rhydon?" May asked as her crossbow and Combusken were useless against the Pokemon whose hide was as stronger as stone.

"Just keep him busy!" Ryker ordered as he took his Rapidash to the far right and signaled for both, May and Drew to continue straight forward. Ryker's Growlithe quickly unleashed a thick Smokescreen for the rest of the squad who were trailing behind, this allowed them to hide from the Rhydon and forcing the Shadow Pokemon to focus on both May and Drew.

May quickly fired off several bolts from her crossbow to get Rhydon's attention, every iron tipped bolt simply bouncing off of the Shadow Pokemon's armored hide. The moment his blood shot eyes fell upon May her Combusken unleashed a barrage of Ember attacks upon him, the heat only tickling him as he prepared to throw another boulder at them. Ripping a chunk of Earth straight out of the ground he lifted high over his head and threw it right at May, the young soldier screaming in fear as it was coming straight at her.

Without warning a powerful blast of energy ripped through the boulder and riding right behind May was Drew, his Roselia had used Solar Beam. Although, he had saved May with the powerful grass type move, Roselia now had to rest before even thinking about making another move. The two were wide open now with Combusken's moves doing no damage and their bladed weapons useless, they just waited praying that Ryker had a plan.

"Flame Thrower!" Ryker's voice called out as standing before Rhydon was Growlithe who unleashed a stream of fire upon the Shadow Pokemon, the flames didn't do much but they blinded the Rhydon long enough for an opening. Still riding on Rapidash's back Ryker rode forward past Growlithe and used his Pokemon's flame thrower as a way to get in close. With this Growlithe stopped his fire attack for a split moment, Rhydon's eyes became wide as he watched Ryker leap right off his Rapidash's back and landed on top of Rhydon.

"Stand back!" Ryker warned Growlithe who leaped back into the air and was caught by Rapidash, everyone watched in amazement as Ryker held onto Rhydon's horn and dug into his belt's main pouch. Paul simply smirked at Ryker's reckless tactics something that many officers lectured him on, but something Paul admired about him. Paul knew that Ryker may be reckless, but he had never acted in combat without thinking. What many thought was reckless was just a clever way of taking down a strong opponent in the minds of, Ryker and Paul.

Ryker pulled out a flare they received for the mission and with a round already loaded he took aim, kicking Rhydon hard in the left eye he grinned as the Shadow Pokemon opened his mouth to cry out in pain. With that Ryker pulled back the flare's hammer and squeezed back the trigger activating the pressurized spring within it, sending a signal flare right into Rhydon's mouth and down his throat. Red smoke fumed from Rhydon's mouth as the fare was going off inside the Shadow Pokemon, the burning sensation deep within him something that Rhydon's stone hard hide couldn't protect him from.

"Grow!" Growlithe chirped happily as Ryker leaped onto Rapidash's back and joined with the rest of the squad. Everyone was shocked at what he had just done and no one knew what to say.

"That was amazing!" Ritchie cried out in shock.

"That was nothing, you should see what the Corporal does!" Ryker called out nudging Paul who smirked and rolled his eyes at Ryker who truly did praise Paul as a leader.

...

"What if we fail?" Misty called out.

Everyone looked at her as they all realized that Ryker had used the red flare to kill Rhydon, the flare signal that was suppose to be used by one member of the squad to signal the failure of the mission.

"We won't fail," That was all Paul said right before he took the lead as the main force of the herd was now coming into range, that Rhydon was simply just a welcoming party for them.

Ash grinned as he knew if Ryker was that strong then Paul was even stronger, but Ash wasn't about to get out shined by those two.

* * *

Ash snapped the reins roughly causing Ponyta to increase her speed as his heart raced from watching three fellow soldiers get ripped apart by the Tyranitar"s powerful Hyper Beam attack, seeing causalities on the combat field was something that Ash never got use too. Being within the Military Police that did have to patrol the open land around cities and towns, but he never expected to be in a fight like this as this was more Infantry duty. Yet, having Paul and the Military Police Scouts made him feel a bit more at ease as he had just watched Paul take out a Fearow with a handful of throwing knives that he had Elekid charged with an electric current.

Charging your weapons with an electric current was something that Ash had never thought of, but was something he really wanted to attempt now.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu cried out as he ears twitched as it was obviously he sensed a Shadow Pokemon near them, but Ash couldn't spot anything in their area. That was until it was to late... Ripping through the ground below them was an Arbok its purple skin covered in the black markings making it look much more vicious then the usual Arbok that people would see.

"Pikachu use-" Ash was cut off as the Arbok shot forward and dug its teeth deep into Ponyta's neck, the fire type quickly screamed out in pain, but as fast as the Arbok appeared the Ponyta was killed. Ash and Pikachu were thrown from their stead's back and were sent crashing into the ground below them with great force, but before Pikachu could even use Thunderbolt he was slammed by a powerful Mud Bomb from Arbok. With Pikachu trapped by the mud it was all up to Ash to defeated the Arbok, kill or be killed.

Ash's head was pounding as he stumbled to his feet, but as if his body had entered into autopilot his hands flew to his sword's hilt and he quickly pulled it out. Entering a powerful stance Ash looked upwards his head still pounding to see that the Arbok was already coming at him, with no enough time to even swing his sword Ash was trapped within Arbok's deadly Wrap attack. The thick skinned body of the Arbok slowly squeezing Ash to death, his sword that had fallen from his grasp now laid far from his reach.

"Arrrr Bok!" Arbok hissed as she prepared to indulge in her new meal.

Ash's mind was racing a million miles an hour...

_Misty_

_Home_

_His mom_

_Pikachu_

_The squad_

_... My knife!_

Ash's eyes quickly shot downwards at his hunting knife that he kept attached to his overalls, struggling to free his right arm he knew that it was his last chance. The Arbok's wrap around him was getting tighter and tighter, the Shadow Pokemon simply torturing him before it planned on swallowing him whole. A death that didn't seem appropriate to anyone that was living, something that made Arbok a truly threatening foe.

"Arghhhh!" Ash cried out as he ripped his arm out from the grip and quickly ripped out his hunting knife, his reflection was clear within the sharp blade as Ash was able to stare into is own eyes. All he saw was the fear that he had overcome with determination and rage, he was tired of how these Shadow Pokemon were ruining people's lives and he was tired of seeing his fellow soldiers die in a war that was so brutal and violent.

"Arbok!" The Shadow Pokemon hissed angrily as showed off her razor sharp fangs and went in for the kill, but Ash wasn't about to go down without a fight. Swinging his blade upwards he caught the Arbok right across the face, causing blood to drip down from the large gash blinding her in her right eye from the flood of blood that got caught within it.

Screaming out in pain Arbok had loosened her grip upon Ash just enough that the soldier was able to slip out, throwing his knife down he entered a full roll and snatched his sword from the ground. In complete pain and half blindness the Arbok fired off a barrage of Poison Needles that Ash was able too just barely avoid with a quick roll. Rushing in for the kill Ash swung downwards, but the Arbok dodged and countered with a powerful Tail Whip.

Ash cried out as he was sent crashing across the ground like a rock skipping over the surface of water. With his whole body in pain Ash slowly rose up to his feet and rushed forward, roaring loudly as he gripped his blade tightly.

Kill or be killed...

"Ar-" Arbok never finished her war cry as the blood covered blade of Ash's sword ripped through the Shadow Pokemon's throat, the blade exiting the other side of Arbok as blood dripped from it and down her scaly back.

Ash's breathing was heavy as with one mighty pull he ripped the blade out of Arbok and with one swift swing he separated the snake Pokemon's head from it's scaly body.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried out as he rushed over to help the mouse Pokemon who was struggling to escape the muddy trap that the Arbok had trapped him within.

"Pika?" Pikachu whispered lowly as he was near tears.

Ash whimpered lowly, "Don't worry buddy we're gonna make it home one day."

* * *

"You two take the left flank!" Paul ordered two young soldiers who had been separated from their squad and were now following anyone they could help them advance farther into the herd. The two soldiers both nodded as they took their Ponyta far to the left and drew their swords, but before they could ever react Aggron stepped in their way and the two soldiers fell like helpless Caterpie under the steel type's massive amount of strength.

Ritchie quickly threw his head over the side of his Ponyta and released his early morning breakfast at this sight as he had never seen so much blood in his life, Sparky weakly patting the young soldier's back as he was also disturbed by this sight something that no amount of training could truly prepare him for. Ritchie had never imagined combat like this as every night before he fell asleep at basic training he imagined it as an amazing sight where humanity would concur and casulties were nonexistent.

He had been such a fool.

"Private First Class, use that bow now!" Paul ordered Misty who cringed at the order as she had just barely gained the skill to use the bow on solid ground, forget about using it while riding.

Misty nervously picked her bow up and drew an arrow.

"Help!" A young soldier cried out as he struggled to push his dead Ponyta off his legs in a hurry as a bulky Ursaring was approaching, the fur around its mouth stained with the blood of a fallen Sergeant not to long ago. The young soldier began clawing at the ground around his legs as he knew they weren't broken, just trapped under the heavy dead weight of the fire Pokemon.

Misty quickly fired her first arrow, the steel tip cut through the air and found itself deep within the ground near the Ursaring.

"Shit!" Misty cursed angrily as she pulled out another arrow and drew it back, she knew that her Ponyta couldn't reach the trapped soldier in time and Corsola's water attacks wouldn't even reach the halfway mark between the two.

It was all up to her and her bow.

Releasing the string Misty watched as the arrow just missed the Ursaring and hit the ground behind him, the large Shadow Pokemon ignoring the inaccurate arrows as his eyes were set on the soldier and his dead Ponyta who looked like a good meal.

Mist quickly drew back another arrow, but this time she waited and relaxed herself. Ignoring the sounds of combat and the bumpy ride on top of the Ponyta she tensed up her muscles and released. The arrow sliced through the air like a newly sharpened blade through an opponent, with amazing accuracy the arrow cut deep within the Ursaring's upper shoulder. The Shadow Pokemon stumbling back in pain as he hadn't expected such an attack from anyone due to his opposing size, but before he cold even find the archer who had hit him two more arrows stuck him.

The Ursaring fell to his knees in pain as his blood stained his fur and without warning a final arrow finished him off.

Misty had done it...

"Tyranitar at eight o'clock!" Dawn cried out as Misty's eyes widen in horror and her heart dropped as the young soldier she worked so hard to save was crushed by the Tyranitar. The Shadow Pokemon not even bothering to look down on the poor helpless soul that he had just crushed. Misty's eyes filled with tears as he was horrified at how fast one's life could be save and then taken on the battle field. Just a few seconds ago she had just saved the young soldier from a bloody death and now he was... Dead.

"Squad keep fighting!" Brock roared as he could see the hopeless looks in all their faces.

Dawn just weakly starred at Piplup and whispered lowly to herself, "But why should we keep fighting if we all are just going to die?"

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, stay tuned for the next one!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four. Here's the next chapter I really hope you guys like it! **

"Get down!" A soldier cried out as he ran across the grassy field as his Ponyta had been killed and his last means of escape was on foot, but before he could get very far a green vine quickly pulled him high into the air and simply dropped him. His screaming finally coming to an end as his body dropped to the ground like a rag doll that a little girl just carelessly threw in the air. Another soldier was ripped right off his Ponyta as he tried to retreat from the deadly vines, but it was hopeless as he was faced with the same fate as the last solider.

Gary and Brock watched in horror as before them was a large Venusaur, the large Shadow Pokemon hadn't been brought up in the mission briefing and no one had really faced off against a Venusaur in combat before. The grassy type cut down incoming soldiers with his razor sharp Razor Leaf attack and would snatch retreating soldiers right off their Ponyta with its oversized vines from its back.

"What should we do?" Gary asked Brock as he watched the Venusaur violently attack the incoming soldiers, a sight that horrified him. Joining the two of them were Ritchie, Dawn, Ryker, and two other members of the Military Police. All of them looking at Brock for orders as he was the ranking soldier among them at the moment.

Brock was silent.

"Sergeant?" Ryker called out as he shared a concern look with the two other soldiers who had joined them.

Brock wanted to speak, but he couldn't.

Sudowoodo was just as silent as he had been riding on the back of the Ponyta with Brock.

"Brock say something!" Dawn cried out fearful that their leader had lost hope as well.

Then it hit Brock like a ton of bricks, "We do what we were sent here to do... We fight."

Everyone was silent.

"But how?" Dawn muttered lowly nearly in tears as the Venusaur was coming closer and closer.

"With our blades," Gary spoke up as he pulled out his sword.

"With our Pokemon," Ryker stated calmly as he patted Growlithe and Rapidash on their heads.

Brock simply nodded and then he spoke up, "Move out!"

The sounds of hooves smashing into the ground echoed loudly as the group of soldiers advanced towards the Venusaur, the grass type grinning as he spotted them and unleashed a barrage of Razor Leaves. Gary was able to deflect two with his sword but was quickly forced to move farther to the left to avoid the incoming leaves, Ryker used his Growlithe's Ember attack to burn the leaves with ease, and Brock placed Sudowoodo in front of him as the grass type move didn't effect him.

"Mike!" One of the soldiers cried out as one of the two who were following them was hit by a razor leaf and was thrown off his Ponyta. It was obvious that the leaf had cut right through his neck and killed the poor soldier.

Dawn fearfully grasped her reins even harder at this sight.

Gary quickly ordered Umbreon to use Shadow Ball, but the attack did very little to damage Venusaur who now had brought out his oversized vines. The first victim to the large vines was one of the other soldiers who had been following him, his Ponyta and him being crushed under it. The veins were powerful as that ripped apart the ground around them, Dawn and Piplup doing their best to avoid the vines but their Ponyta was near exhaustion.

"Keep moving in!" Gary cried out as he sliced a vine right down the center with his sword and then had Umbreon use Scratch to separate the rest of the vine from the Shadow Pokemon. Venusaur cried out in pain as Ryker quickly had Growlithe burn the ends of his vines and then quickly cut off the rest of the vine with his sword.

"Sergeant, watch out!" Ryker cried out as a vine quickly swiped the feet right from under his Ponyta, sending both Brock and Sudowoodo crashing into the ground as their Ponyta was mercilessly thrown into the air like it was nothing.

Gary and Ryker both shared a look of fear.

Brock's vision slowly returned to him as he opened his eyes to see no other than Sudowoodo standing over him, his loyal Pokemon was struggling to hold off an incoming vine with his bare hands. Brock coughed weakly as Sudowoodo was slowly being pushed back by the overpowering vine, Brock was nearly brought to tears by this sight.

"Sudo!" Sudowoodo yelled out in pain.

Rising to his feet Brock quickly picked up his war hammer and with one might strike he brought it down upon the vine, pinning it down with both Sudowoodo and his war hammer he watched as Gary leaped off his Ponyta and jumped onto the vine. Racing down the vine Gary knew that the Venusaur couldn't attack him while he was on the vine as that would involve the Shadow Pokemon hitting his vine in the process, thus hurting himself. With Umbreon close behind Gary raced forward the Venusaur who was too busy with the others to notice Gary.

"Umbreon use Sand Attack!" Gary called out as Umbreon quickly blinded the Venusaur and with this Gary had his opening. Throwing three throwing knives at the grass type he nailed the Venusaur right in the face, but that wasn't all. Gary launched himself high into the air and landed feet first on Venusaur's face, using his feet to dig the knives deeper into Venusaur he pushed off into the air and landed right on its head.

"Die already!" Gary roared angrily as he stabbed his sword downwards into Venusaur's head the Shadow Pokemon roaring out in pain as his vines thrashed around violently. Gary struggled to stay up as he grasped his sword's hilt tightly, the Venusaur not going down without causing more damage as his vines were smashing anything that was close by.

Loosing his footing Gary was being flung through the air as his sword had found itself deep within Venusaur's skull, hitting the ground with great force Gary watched in horror as his sword was left in the Venusaur's head but had failed to kill him. Gary just whimpered lowly in sorrow, "We're doomed."

"Sparky use, Thunderbolt!" Ritchie cried out as the small mouse Pokemon unleashed a powerful bolt of electricity that stuck Gary's sword. Gary watched in amazement as Ritchie had used Gary's sword as a conductor, thus allowing the flow of electricity to run down the sword and into Venusaur's brain thus frying it within seconds. Ritchie grinned as he watched Venusaur cry out in pan, but just before Venusaur collapsed in defeat he had one more trick up his sleeve.

"Ritchie, watch out!" Dawn cried out as just before the Venusaur died it had used, Frenzy Plant.

A collection of thorny roots ripped through the ground in a straight line heading directly towards Ritchie, realizing he couldn't run away from the incoming attack Ritchie quickly threw Sparky out of the way. The roots slammed into Ritchie with full force, the thorns tearing at his skin as they ht him and his body being thrown aside like he was nothing.

With this the Venusaur finally died.

"Ritchie!" Gary cried out in horror.

"Kid," Ryker muttered lowly.

Dawn just screamed in horror.

"Pika!" Sparky cried out tears running down his face.

* * *

"I can't believe you were just stranded out there," Misty chuckled softly as she blushed gently from how tightly Ash was holding onto her as he was riding on the back of her Ponyta. After, realizing that Ash was no longer part of their formation Misty had gone back to find him fearing the worse, but was beyond relieved when she found Ash and Pikachu slowly making their way towards the front line by foot.

"Shut up," Ash growled back with a grin at Misty's usual teasing. The herd had came to a stop and the only major Pokemon that remanded were the, Tyranitar and its two Aggron followers. The Military Police had sent two more squads of reinforcements along with a platoon of Infantry soldiers who had arrived from Pewter City after being informed that two of their platoons had been wiped out. The Infantry wanted to send more, but Koga reassured them that more soldiers would just make the battlefield more chaotic and that a platoon was enough as Koga truly had all the faith in the world in his won men.

"What's going on?" Misty muttered lowly as she caught sight of the rest of their squad all in a circle, Gary waving them over.

Misty and Ash quickly made their way over to the circle beyond confused, they both pushed their way into the center of the circle to see no other then, Ritchie. Weakly smiling at the sight of his two closest friends he coughed lowly, blood was gushing from his stomach where a thorn had sliced right through him and several of his broken ribs had punctured his lungs. Misty covered her mouth in horror as her eyes began to fill with tears and Ash's hands formed a fist as he tried to hide his tears with his cap.

"Hold in there, Ritchie!" Drew called out as he helped the medic that Brock had found patch him up, the medic's face looked doubtful as he ordered Drew to put some pressure on the wound as he tried his best to patch it up to stop the bleeding.

"Pika?" Sparky muttered lowly as tears ran down its face as Ritchie placed his blood hand on its back to reassure his friend that everything would be alright. Sparky simply weakly nudged his head against Ritchie's face as the two had been best friends since day one.

Ash stuttered weakly, "W-what h-ha-happened?"

Everyone was silent.

Paul and Ryker could tell that although Brock's squad had lost other friends from other squads, that this was their first casualty within their squad.

No one could answer Ash.

"I want to see my m-mother," Ritchie cried out lowly as the last time he had seen his mother was the day he left for basic training.

May buried her face within Dawn's shoulder as she cried loudly.

Brock looked away in pain as he felt as if this was his fault, he was the squad leader and he should of been the one that took the hit not Ritchie.

Ritchie could tell by everyone's faces that it wasn't looking good, so with the last of his strength he reached into his upper left breast pocket and pulled out a blood stained letter. Weakly lifting it into the air he looked at Ash, "My mother always liked you Ash... S-so it w-would mean the wo-world if you delivered it to h-her."

Ash quickly dropped to his knees and grabbed the letter along with Ritchie's hands, "You'll make it don't worry! The Military Police have the best medics!"

Ritchie just grinned as he pulled his hands from Ash's and looked at Sparky with a weak smile before speaking up, "Was I a good soldier?"

There was silence.

No one knew what to say.

Brock wanted to express how Ritchie was the best soldier he could ask for, but he just couldn't speak.

"You were a good soldier. From what I saw you acted on your feet and if wasn't for you we'd all be dead probably, you may be just a kid but you fought like a warrior that had seen years of combat today. I'd fight along side you any day soldier."

Everyone was shocked.

Paul the one who had been so strict and cold hearted had just spoken up for a soldier he barely knew, but yet his words suited Ritchie's act of valor so perfectly.

"Thank you," Ritchie whimpered lowly as a single tear escaped from his eye and with this his body went limp.

He was dead.

Sparky cried out as he buried his face in Ritchie neck.

The Medic slowly stood up and whipped his hands off on his uniform, his face tired and aged by combat.

Ash's tears ran down his face as he slowly shoved the letter from Ritchie into his pocket, Pikachu hiding his face in Ash's neck as he refused to look at Ritchie.

"I'm sorry for your lost, but we still have three more Shadow Pokemon to take care of... You must mourn latter and fight now," Paul stated as he stood apart from the group along with Ryker and the Medic all of them a bit uncomfortable with standing around while the rest of the unit was fighting.

Everyone knew he was right.

"Forget about him, we must continue fighting!" Paul called out angrily as no one was moving.

Dawn suddenly stormed forward and grabbed Paul by his collar, "Forget about him! What kind of monster are you! You speak heart filled words before his death and then tell us to just forget about him seconds latter!"

Everyone was shocked at her action.

Ryker rushed forward pulling her hands off Paul and pushing her to the ground, "You don't touch the Corporal like that!"

Paul simply turned around, got on his Rapidash, and rode off. The Medic nodded at the others in sorrow as he got on his Ponyta and quickly followed Paul, realizing that the battle was far from over.

"I'm sorry," Ryker muttered as he got on his Rapidash and rode off.

There was silence.

"Lets move out," Brock stated in a cold voice as he climbed onto Ritchie's Ponyta and prepared to ride off.

"How can you say that? We should stay here with Ritchie's body?" Dawn cried out in sorrow.

No one knew what to say.

"Private, you will get on your Ponyta like I ordered or I will have you thrown into jail once we get back to base for failing to listen to orders!" Brock roared angrily as everyone was shocked as they had never heard him speak like that before.

Ash would always remember that day, it was the day they lost Ritchie and the day that Brock had changed.

**Share your thoughts about this chapter with a review and stay tuned!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five. Took me a bit longer for this chapter, but that's just because I was busy the past two days. Special thanks to Mlory79080 for being my first review and for the kind support! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

Sparky just stared at Ritchie's lifeless as body all alone on the battlefield, his only company were the other motionless bodies that were scattered across the grassy field their blood staining its soil of the once peaceful land. Sparky weakly nudged Ritchie's face hoping for some sort of reaction, but there was nothing. His best friend, his trainer, and his comrade was now dead. The small mouse Pokemon didn't know what to do without, Ritchie.

He was lost.

He was hopeless.

Sparky just sat there wondering to himself...

When this war would end and when it did, would the sacrifice be worth it?

* * *

"Release the smoke! Fire the harpoons!" A Infantry Captain cried out as he was now the commanding officer after the Major from the Military Police who had led the charge was killed by a powerful Hyper Beam from the Tyranitar. Luckily, the Military Police reinforcements had brought pressurized spring loaded harpoons, the tips were iron so the Captain feared they wouldn't be durable enough to pierce the harden hide of their enemy.

A young solider quickly rode his Ponyta across the line of the remaining soldiers, a smoke screen trailing behind him from his Ponyta's mouth as it would hide the soldiers from the three Shadow Pokemon that approached them. With the smoke screen layered a crew of three soldiers each quickly placed a large tube that had a spiked harpoon within it. Pulling back the bolt the spring was pressurized and quickly released, the harpoons slicing through the smoke and flying right at their targets. Due to the smoke the Shadow Pokemon were caught off guard, the harpoons dug deep within the.

"We got them!" May cried out in joy as they all quickly joined the formation, their minds still hurt from the image of a dead Ritchie.

Suddenly, the Tyranitar roared angrily as he ripped several harpoons out and tugged on them, the rope that connected it to the firing tube being pulled forward knocking several soldiers over as he did so. The Captain watched in horror as the attack had no effect on the Tyranitar, but this was still a chance to take the Aggron out! The Captain quickly threw his arm up in the air so it was visible to the remaining harpoon crew and with this they all nodded, each armed with a fire type they ordered their Pokemon to set the rope ablaze.

Ash watched in amazement as the ropes caught fire right away as it was obvious they had been soaked within some sort of flammable liquid. The Aggron cried out in pain as the fire reached the metal harpoon that had dug deep within their bodies. Burning away at the Aggron's inner soft tissue the harpoons finally were pulled out by the fierce Shadow Pokemon, but the damage had been done. So much tissue damage left the Aggron unable to fight anymore and they collapsed, with the soldiers swarmed the fallen two Aggron.

Two squads placed a handful of ceramic balls that were filled with flammable liquids, the squads quickly lit a fuse and raced off. Pikachu watched in awe at the human tactics as the fuse ran out and the balls went off, a fiery explosion erupting through the Shadow Pokemon's mouths that traveled through their bodies. A similar tactic that Ryker had used on the Rhydon, it was something that humanity learned in ordered to take out an armored Pokemon you had to destroy them from the inside.

"Tyranitar!" The Shadow Pokemon roared as he pulled out the final harpoons and quickly slammed his fist downwards, the blast from the powerful punch sending many soldiers flying back as shards of rock cut at them. Drew watched in horror as his eyes fell to his medical pack as he was the squad's acting medic, but not even he was prepared for such a bloody sight today. He hadn't picked the position of medic, he was just randomly selected like many medics were as not enough soldiers volunteered for the job.

There was silence as the over-growen Tyranitar glared down at the humans, as if he was waiting for their next move.

"Ten minutes until the Aerial Raid led by, Captain Falkner arrives!" The Infantry Captain called out as he looked at his watch nervously as he knew this would be a great moral support. Falkner was one of the best members of the Aerial Division and had trained with Johto for two years during his early years of is cereer, he had adopted tactics from both regions and was a master of the sky.

"What do we do until then?" A soldier cried out as the tension was to thick.

The Captain was silent for a moment as he could order a retreat to avoid more casualties, but that'd risk the possibility that the Tyranitar would break through as they retreated and reach Viridian City. He could order a full scale attack right now to avoid the Tyranitar advancing anymore, but that'd involve more lives lost.

He was unsure...

He was tired of seeing his men die, but he couldn't jeopardize the mission.

"We keep fighting!"

...

There was silence as everyone turned to stare at Ash who held his sword high into the air, every soldier shocked at the fact that a lowly Lance Corporal had spoken out at a time like this.

The Captain simply grinned upon hearing this as he liked Ash's spirit and pulling out his two handed sword he screamed loudly, "For Kanto and Humanity!"

* * *

_Six Minutes until Aerial Raid..._

Military Police and Infantry soldiers of all backgrounds raced across the battlefield as the Tyranitar's armored hide was preventing it from take any damage from their attacks, although it did slow its advance forward it was only a matter of holding it back and not defeating it. Ash and Misty had created a battle plan together, while Ash rode the Ponyta he would had Corsola fire off a Water Gun attack around Tyranitar's feet in an attempt to make the ground muddy, while in the back Misty would allow Pikachu to lightly charge the iron head of her arrows before she fired each one. Although, a great tactical plan on paper it wasn't so great against such a powerful foe as it didn't seem to be doing much.

_Five Minutes..._

Brock along with several other soldiers were guarding the rear, their orders was to prevent any soldiers from retreating as it was feared that if the Tyranitar saw one soldier retreat towards Viridian City then he may attempt to follow that soldier in hopes that they'd bring him to a large population as most Shadow Pokemon did such things. Yet, the whole time Brock was standing there he kept looking back at where Ritchie's body was in the distance, a feeling of guilt and sorrow constantly flowing through his mind.

_Four minutes..._

Gary rushed forward screaming as he threw throwing knife after throwing knife, but it was hopeless as they all bounced off and cracked from the armored hide. Umbreon unleashed Shadow Ball barrages at the Shadow Pokemon in desperate hope to slow it down, but there was no success in sight. Gary watched as one soldier latched onto the Tyranitar's foot and attempted to scale its body, but as he reach knee height he was simply flicked off like an annoying bug. Gary quickly reached for his sword, but was faced with the memory of how Ritchie and Sparky had burnt it to a crisp when they killed the Venusaur. Gary's muscles became tight as he looked up to see the Tyranitar stump down with all its powerful and with a low whimper the blast from the stomp sent him flying across the ground with, Umbreon, and many other soldiers.

_Three minutes..._

Drew desperately applied pressure to the young soldier who was crying out in pain as a shard of rock had pierced his lower torso, leaving a large gash right through his side. Drew quickly reached into his medic bag and pulled out a needle of morphine, which could slow his heart rate and stopped the pain. Jabbing the wounded soldier with it he was pleased to see some sort of comfort, but that pleasure went away as he noticed that there was still more blood gashing from the bloody wound the soldier had. Drew quickly attempted to patch the wound up, but nothing was working. At that moment the soldier weakly pointed at the morphine needle and held up four figures, Drew was horrified. The soldier knew his wound was deadly and he knew that four more needles of morphine would stop his heart all together. This was the choice that a Medic had to choose sometimes...

_Two minutes..._

May fired off two bolts at the incoming Tyranitar, but just like always they simply bounced off off its armored hided. Dawn quickly rushed to her side ordering Piplup to unleash a barrage of Bubble, but just like May's most recent attack it did nothing. This Tyranitar was just to large and powerful to be even effect by such attacks that would usually like it weakened. The watched as three Infantry soldiers rushed forward along with their Pokemon, only be to snatched up by the Tyranitar and crushed within it grasp. May watched in horror as Dawn cried, a mist of blood escaping the Shadow Pokemon's hand. This wasn't war...

_One Minute..._

Paul, Ryker, and several other Military Police scouts raced around the large Shadow Pokemon keeping it busy while the rest of the Military Police and Infantry pulled back in preparation for the incoming aerial raid. Their Rapidash were fast enough that they'd be able to get out of the danger zone just as the aerial raid arrived, something that the Military Police Scouts were proud of. Paul ordered Elekid to unleash powerful blast of electricity every time they passed, Ryker joining in with Growlithe's stream of fire, and the other scouts doing the same. Their eyes plastered on the horizon just waiting for their signal to retreat as they could clear the danger zone.

"Corporal, where the hell are they?" Ryker called out angrily as it had been over the time that they were given and Falkner was never late.

Paul's grip on his reins became tight, "They're not coming."

**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six. Here's the next chapter and I'd really like to thank Malory79080 please check her out, she has been very kind to my story haha. Enjoy this chapter!**

There was silence.

No one dared to speak.

No wanted to speak.

The Aerial Raid wasn't coming.

"What now?" Mist whimpered lowly as she hid her face within the back of Ash's shirt, tears flowing down her cheeks as Corsola weakly nudge her head within Misty's lap. Paul and the remainder of the Scouts had joined back up with what remained of the fighting force, everyone's faces were devastated and horrified as Tyranitar was slowly approaching from the distance. No one had been prepared for this as Head Quarters wasn't even aware of the monasteries size of the Tyranitar, something that not even the reinforcements were aware of as they were told the Tyranitar was big but not that big.

The Tyranitar was barely even been weakened during the fight, the casualties his herd and himself had made were devastating and the mental scarring he had caused was un-healable. Fully trained soldiers from both the Military Police and Infantry were just cut through like a hot knife through fresh Miltank butter, the Tyranitar barely even hesitating before taking a life.

So many lives had been lost on both sides and yet nether side was closer to winning the war.

"All this damage caused by one Tyranitar... There's probably another hundred Shadow Pokemon who are even stronger then him just waiting the join the fight," Dawn muttered weakly as everyone knew she was right, that there were so many more Shadow Pokemon out there and many more easily outmatched the Tyranitar with power and speed. It was a frightening thought that this battle they were fighting, wouldn't even be listed within the history book as a war changing battle.

"It was a honor fighting alongside you," Gary muttered lowly as he starred at Ash with a hopeless look in his eyes as if he had just lost the will to fight.

Ash just angrily shoved Gary, "Stop talking like that!"

Gary just looked at him with sorrowful eyes, "Ash why can't you just ever accept defeat?"

"Why must you refuse victory?" Ash cried back loudly as his voice echoed throughout the field loudly.

Everyone just weakly lifted their heads to stare at the young Lance Corporal, the same one who had triggered their prideful charge not to long ago was speaking out again. No one knew if they should listen to him as many thought he walked the line of prideful and foolishness. Yet, in such a low time like this no one was going to deny his right to speak his mind.

"Many of us have lost friends and families at the hands of these, BEAST! I know this moment looks hopeless but we cannot just roll over and give up! If we do that then all of humanity should just do the same, we should keep fighting to the last man to show these MONSTERS that we will not let them win! We won't because soldiers like Private. Ritchie Hiroshi and many more gave their lives to allow us the right to continue fighting!" As cried out as Pikachu stood on his shoulder with pride as his trainer and best friend spoke out loudly among the last remaining soldiers within the fighting force, many of them covered in blood and dirt. Their swords soaked in the blood of their enemies and their hands covered in the blood of their comrades, their eyes filled with tears and their hearts empty of love.

"For Ritchie," Gary muttered lowly as he rose his fist high in the air.

"For our families," Brock stated louder as he did the same.

"For our comrades," May added on even louder.

"For the right to continue living," Drew added on it a loud whisper.

"For Kanto," Dawn added on even louder.

"No! For Humanity!" Ash roared loudly as every soldier entered a pride filled war cry their blades high in the air as even their Pokemon joined in the war cry as like how the Humans were fighting for humanity, the Pokemon were fighting for their own people.

Paul just smirked, "That idiot."

"He may be an idiot, but he knows how to hype up a crowed," Ryker snickered as both him and Paul nodded at each other with grins as they pulled out their swords, both of them ready to fight to the end.

...

"CHARGE!"

The sounds of hooves smashing into the ground roared loudly as every soldier able to fight rushed forward screaming at the top of their their lungs at the Tyranitar who was was now slightly taken back by their sight, the Humans and Pokemon that he had so badly beaten were returning for more. Before the Tyranitar could even process all of this he was suddenly hit by a powerful blast. The Shadow Pokemon stumbling back in pain as his armored hide now had a burn mark on it where the powerful blast had hit him.

"Look!" A soldier cried out as everyone looked in the distance at the source of the attack.

In the distance was a large group of reinforcements coming from the Tyranitar's left flank, but these weren't no Military Police or Infantry soldiers. They were all members of the Special Forces unit called, The Legion, the most elite and hand picked soldiers in all of Kanto. It was said they were on a mission all the way in the Northern sector of Kanto, but apparently they had raced over upon hearing about the Tyranitar and his herd of Shadow Pokemon.

"It's the The Legion!" May cried out shock as no one had expected them to arrive.

Leading the incoming soldiers was no other then the Field Commander, Captain. Red. Riding his trusty Charizard into battle the Special Forces officer had hit the Tyranitar with a powerful Flame Burst attack, so powerful that it had ripped through a patch of Tyranitar's armor that the fighting force had barely been able to scratch at. Riding behind him were about a platoon size of soldiers all members of the elite unit, but none where at par with Red who ranked above all of them and was the few soldiers who had more than one Pokemon under his command.

"Stop the advance!" A First Lieutenant called out as the blonde haired officer from Red's unit cut them off, a grin displayed upon his face as Ash and the others all stopped their steads at this order. Even the Infantry Captain stopped his advance as he knew that this was an order from Red himself, the Lieutenant simply grinned as his Raichu sat proudly on his Rapidash with him as they watched their leader attack the Tyranitar.

Ash watched in amazement as several of the soldiers rode around Tyranitar's legs wrapping them in a String Shot attack released from their bug type Pokemon, with Tyranitar immobilized for a split second other soldiers sprung into action unleashing multiple attacks upon him. Their accuracy was amazing as they knew all of Tyranitar's weak spots and within a period of one minute they had the Shadow Pokemon gasping for air. That's when Red ordered his Charizard to fire off a Fire Burst and with one powerful hit the Tyranitar was sent collapsing to the ground.

Dead.

Ash watched in shock as opponent they couldn't defeat for the past hour had been so easily defeated by Red and his soldiers in less then five minutes.

"They're amazing," Gary stated in shock.

Paul just starred at Red as the Captain simply fired off the green flare to signal victory, everyone cheering in joy at the victory.

Ash just stared at Red as he flew through the open blue sky, "I need to join them."

* * *

The Military Police head quarters was in chaos as officers and enlisted men ran around trying to figure out the number of casualties, how they had been misinformed about Tyranitar's size, the reason why the Aerial Raid never arrived, and they had to properly thank Red and his men for arriving after hearing simple rumors about the attack. Within the less busy section of the war room of head quarters was Ash and the remaining members of the first wave that had confronted the Shadow Pokemon today.

The first wave consisted of six squads all being led by two Military Police Scouts, thus equalling about sixty soldiers that were among the first wave. After, an hour of intense fighting their numbers dropped drastically many being wounded in battle and being unable to be reached simply died from their wounds. Of the sixty that rode into battle within the first wave only twenty-five were able to continue fighting at the end of the battle, another eight had been mortally wounded, and the rest were killed in action.

Twenty-five had survived from the first wave, eight were in serious physical conditions, and then there were the twenty-seven that would never be returning to the battle field or home. Along, with the deaths within the reinforcements the casualty list was devastating and many soldiers were shocked that any of them were even able to survive.

"You are members of the fire wave, correct?" A voice asked curiously as they all looked up to see the First Lieutenant from before standing in front of them all. He wore the standard field uniform along with some alterations due to him being an elite member of, The Legion. On his upper right sleeve was his unit patch which was an honorable patch as only Special Forces members of The Legions could wear it, it was a shield shaped patch with a sword in the center of it with two angel like wings extending from both sides. Along, with that he wore a electric yellow scarf around his neck as combat scarfs were a common attire within The Legion, his utility belt was altered to carry more, his cap had a desert flap on the sides and back, and his weapons were top of the line.

He was Red's second in command, Surge.

"Yes, sir." A soldier weakly spoke up.

Surge gave them all a sorrowful look over as he could tell they had all gone through the grinder and came out, "Which on of you is, Sergeant. Brock Stone?"

Everyone was slightly shocked at his request as they all looked in the back of the group to where Brock was sitting silently. Brock simply looked up from the ground and starred at Surge, "I am."

Surge nodded as he walked over and extended his hand out, something that no one had ever heard of him doing. Surge was a powerful and elite soldier who only respected his leader Red and a small selected few, but yet here he was extending his hand out in respect to a lowly Sergeant.

Brock took the hand shake slightly taken back.

"I read the reports, son. Only one lose within your squad although a shame, that is truly an amazing achievement of both leadership and tactics. Although, there is a lot going on I'd like to inform you that you have my fullest respect and if you keep playing your cards right you may be hearing from us one day," Surge stated as Brock was taken back by all of this as he couldn't believe what was going on. The past few hours after the battle he had blamed himself for Ritchie's death, but now an officer like Surge was awarding him in a way with praise. Brock didn't know how to feel about all of this and he just didn't know what to say.

With that being said Surge joined Red and the two started to make their way to the rooms exit.

"Wait!" Ash cried out as Surge looked over his shoulder with a smirk as Red simply just stood moving, "Let me join, The Legion!"

There was silence by everyone in the room.

Surge just snickered lowly as everyone was waiting for Red to speak up.

Red had read the report about how Ash had motivated the fighting force to keep fighting twice and it was an eye drawing trait, but it wasn't skill worthy to be taken in by The Legion... Not just yet.

Red simply said one thing, "In due time, Corporal."

Then he left.

"Corporal?" Ash muttered lowly in confusion as he still held the rank of, Lance Corporal at the time but by the look on Koga's face it seemed like he wouldn't be much longer.

* * *

Falkner sat in his office in silence as his eyes starred down at the sheet of paper he had been given right before his Squadron was about to take off for the scheduled, Aerial Raid. Along with him in his office were his second and third in command both highly respected and powerful soldiers who were skilled pilots and masters of flying type Pokemon.

Second Lieutenant. Winona and FirstSergeant. Skyla.

"I still don't understand, Sir." Skyla called out as she was confused why they had been given such a letter right after being ordered to prepare for flight, something that never happened.

Winona ran her hands through her purple hair stressfully, "My question why of all people did he order this? He has never dealt with us before, so why now?"

Falkner just sat there in silence.

"Sir?" Skyla called out as he spaced out like usual, something that only a daily flying on his Pokemon would fix.

"Oh... Sorry, what?" Falkner chuckled softly as he rubbed the back of his neck, Skyla face palming and Winona giggling at her superior's laid back nature whenever he didn't get to go flying for the day.

Skyla aggressively pulled the letter from his grasp and glared at him, her eyes just starring at the name that signed off on the orders.

"Why would the General order this?" Winona sighed heavily as she couldn't understand what was going on.

"Whatever is going on I think he has something to do with it," Falkner muttered he as he glared at the name on the bottom of the orders...

_General. Lance Wataru_

_Leader of the, First Infantry Division and Dragon type Master_

**Please share your thoughts about this chapter with me! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven. This chapter is different unlike the past few chapters that were constant action after action, this one s very slow paced and just about how the after match of the mission and how it has effected everyone. So enjoy!**

Brock's fist slammed into the cheap leather punching bag several times with great force as Sudowoodo held the sand bag in place, the raged filled Sergeant unleashing his strength upon the bag. Brock hopped side to side being quick on his feet as he unleashed a powerful barrage of quick jabs and forceful uppercuts upon the punching bag. His eyes focused on the punching bag as the wrappings he had around his knuckles were turning a shade of red from the hour long boxing match with the punching bag.

"Sudo?" Sudowoodo called out curiously as he watched Brock dropped down to the floor and weakly pressed his back against the wall, motioning to Sudowoodo to join him on the ground. The soldier and his Pokemon just sat there in silence as they watched the punching bag sway side to side. Brock slowly unwrapping his hands to see the cuts and bruises he had on his knuckles, but the pain simply acted as a reminder that he was only human.

Brock sighed heavily, "I got a letter from back home."

Sudowoodo just looked at Brock in curiosity as he tilted his head to the side slightly.

"Forrest has finally came of age and he says he wants to leave for training also," Brock sighed as he gently banged the back of his head against the wall groaning loudly in frustration. Forrest had been aiding the local guards at Pewter City that helped protect the population along with the local soldiers and everyone knew that the moment that Forest became of age he would enlist. Brock knew this was coming, but after the other day he just wasn't sure how he felt about all it now.

"Sudo Sudowoodo!" Sudowoodo called out trying to reason with Brock.

Brock groaned in annoyance as he knew his Pokemon companion was right, they both knew that Forrest although still young was very strong for his age both physically and mentally. Brock knew from the day he saw Forrest in a Pokemon battle that his brother would surpass him one day, but in a world that was at war that day may never come as danger lurked around every corner.

"Lets go for round two," Brock stated coldly as Sudowoodo simply nodded as he got behind the punching bag and held it steady as Brock unleashed another barrage of frustrated filled punches.

* * *

The metallic needle dug deep into the gray fabric of the uniform, a gray thread of string following behind it as the needle dove in and out of the shirt. Humming lowly to himself while in the barracks was Ash all by himself as he happily sewed on his new rank insignia on his uniform, the rank of Corporal. Ash had waited for so long for this moment and it was finally here, Pikachu watched happily as Ash did so as the both knew how much this meant to Ash. Pikachu chirped out happily, "Pika?"

Ash chucked softly as he playfully rubbed Pikachu's head, "Yeah this means we can now afford more Pokemon food."

Flattening out the rank insignia with his palm Ash joyfully threw on his uniform top to see that the rank insignia was perfectly centered and sewed on. Running his hands thew his hair Ash threw his battle blouse off and stretched his arms high in the air, he had been up all night just thinking about is promotion and about joining The Legion. Yet, his mind kept going to one more thing something he wanted to forget but couldn't.

The letter Ritchie gave him for his mother.

Ash was unable to bring himself to deliver the letter and instead he rewrote the letter as he refused to give her a blood soaked letter. With Sparky given the decision to stay within the military, or go back home the sorrowful mouse Pokemon chose to return home so he could watch over Ritchie's mom and younger sister. Ash knew this was his only chance to get the burden of a letter out of his mind, so he gave to it Sparky in hopes the electric Pokemon would bring it home with him. Luckily, Sparky did so and although guilty he didn't deliver it himself Ash knew that he spared himself of a very upsetting trip.

Ash just wasn't sure if he had done the right thing...

"Corsola!" A voice chirped happily as the doors to the barracks swung open and Misty entered the room with her water Pokemon, Ash grinning at the way she carried herself now as she had also been granted with a promotion just like Ash. Taking his old position as the second Lance Corporal on the squad Misty was very proud of her new rank, especially as she know could boss people around alongside Ash, Gary, and Brock.

"Pi Pika!" Pikachu cried out joyfully as Corsola and him entered a playfully game of tag all around the barracks.

Ash grinned as Misty swaggered her across the room over to him, "Mr. Corporal fancy seeing you here."

The two laughed happily as they both sat down together at a table within the barracks, the two had been training together a lot ever since the battle against the Tyranitar. They had realized that they worked very well together as a team, even with all the arguing and teasing that did. Ever since that day the two seemed too be closer, Ash honestly could never thank Misty enough for when she came back for him on the battlefield. Yet, whenever Ash tried thanking her Misty would simply just shut him down saying it was nothing.

"Misty... Let me just say this one time, please!" Ash cried out with a laugh as Misty just shook her head violently as she refused to accept his thanks for going back to save him.

"No! No! No!" Misty shouted loudly with a grin, "Ashton Ketchum! I went back to save you, because that was my duty as a soldier!"

Ash simply smirked at her comment as she'd always throw around her duty as a soldier as an excuse to get away with things. Yet, Ash refused to take no as an answer and with a weak smile he spoke up, "Then how do you expect me to repay you?"

Her face suddenly became very serious, her eyes starring into his as she weakly bit her lip, it was as if time stood still as the two just looked deep into each other's eyes. Misty simply stood up and walked over to him, her eyes glaring down at him and before he could say anything she grabbed him by his collar. Pulling him forward she pressed her lips against his, Ash's eyes becoming wide as she did so without warning and for the first time since he became a soldier he felt a sense of peace. It was as if the moment their lips tough nothing mattered, not his duty as a soldier, not the war... Nothing.

Ash quickly stood up and wrapped his hands around her hips as the two continued to kiss, the feeling of peace and happiness something the two hadn't truly felt in such a long time. This moment the both wished would last for a life time, they wished they could just run away from the chaos of the world, and live at peace with each other.

* * *

Gary gulped down the bottle of liquor violently as Umbreon watched the Lance Corporal in amusement as Gary cried out loudly after finishing the bottle, Drew clapping slowly at the amusing sight as the two of them and their Pokemon were enjoying the sunset on top of the rooftop of their barracks. Drew proudly now held the rank of Private First Class, being given a small extra amount of pay in his pocket and a new sense of pride. It was a common thing for the two of them to sit on the roof top after every mission, just talking about anything that popped into their heads that didn't involve the previous mission or being a soldier.

They did this so they could be reminded that they were still Human and not mindless killing machines.

"So, when are you gonna ask May you marry you?" Gary asked curiously as he was slightly buzzed due to Drew daring him to drink three bottles as fast as he could. Luckily, Gary could hold himself in any type of drinking contest compared to Drew who was a bit of a lightweight.

Drew looked at his friend in disbelief as there wasn't a single time Gary didn't ask that question after a few drinks, "Why are you so sure that we like each other?

Gary just gave Drew an awkward grin as it made Drew feel a bit uncomfortable.

"I see the way she looks at you!" Gary nearly spilt is beer as he shouted this several soldiers on the ground looking up at the two, but ignoring them as nearly everyone on base knew about the two's tradition to sit on the roof top after every mission. Umbreon and Roselia both giggled softly at how red Drew was becoming from Gary's statement.

"How is that?" Drew asked curiously as he took a small sip from his bottle, barely enough to wet his lips but enough to give off the impression that he was enjoying the alcoholic beverage.

Gary quickly jumped to his feet and leaned in close to Drew's face the green haired soldier leaning back at the sight of his drunken friend, "She looks at you as if she wants to see your butt!"

Drew just sighed heavily, "Gary you should probably stop drinking..."

"They call me, Steamboat Oak!" Gary cried out as he entered a stance with one fist in the air and his foot placed on top of their beer crate.

"No one calls you that!" A soldier on the ground cried out as everyone knew it was a habit of Gary's to make up nicknames for himself whenever he had too much to drink.

Drew laughed loudly at Gary's face of embarrassment as he realized he had grabbed some unwanted attention, but Drew knew he couldn't hide the fact that he had feelings for May any longer. The two had talked about what they wanted to do after the war ended and he had been holding onto the thought of how she wanted to move far away from Kanto, saying that living near the beach in Hoenn would be amazing.

Drew couldn't disagree anymore and he promised himself after this war was over he'd ask for May's hand in marriage, then the two of them would live on the beach for the rest of their lives.

"What about my beach house?" Gary sobbed jokingly as he knew what Drew was thinking about and with that Drew jokingly tipped his drunk friend over, the two of them laughing at each other happily.

* * *

"Living on the beach sounds like a good idea, but not my type of life style," Dawn giggled softly as she sat with May at one of the stone watch towers that over looked the base, the sunset giving their guard duty a sense of peace as it was truly a beautiful sight at the height they were at. The two were having their usual talk about what they thought life would hold for them after the war, May wanting to live on the beach and Dawn wanting to see the world as she truly believed that the rest of the world wasn't in such chaos as Kanto was.

May giggled softly as Dawn went on about her life plan as a traveler, but they both knew that these plans would never come true unless this war was won. Ever since that day the two had been having trouble sleeping, May just thinking about all the blood shed she had seen that day and Dawn just picturing Ritchie's lifeless body. They both never wanted to see such horrors in their lives, but they knew that they had to continue fighting as every soldier made a difference or so they hoped.

"How's Max doing?" Dawn asked curiously as he rubbed Piplup's back as the sleeping water Pokemon moaned lowly in his sleep.

May sighed heavily as she hadn't got a letter from him this week, "He seems to be doing fine I didn't get a letter from him this week, but last week he seemed to be really working hard. He says that he's ranked top in his class for archery just like his Sis!"

"Combusken!" Combusken chirped happily as the fire type was happy to hear that the little twerp it use to peck at was doing fine in his training.

"Now, here's the real question!" Dawn stated in a creepy voice as she leaned forward, "How's Drew?"

May became red and annoyed by the question, "How about you ask him?"

"No, I'd rather ask his love interest," Dawn teased May as she made kissing sounds and shook her butt, which only caused May to turn a brighter shade of red.

"I'm done have fun on guard duty by yourself!" May cried out as she raced off still blushing bright red.

Dawn sighed heavily as she folded her arms, "At least she has a man."

"Piplup?" Piplup chirped lowly as he woke up and flexed his arms weakly.

"Yes, Piplup you'll always be the only man for me," Dawn giggled softly as she patted his head and smiled weakly, but yet these were the moments she hated the most being alone as the thought of how if Ritchie could die then what was stopping her from dying would always pop back into her head.

Dawn hated being alone...

* * *

"Keep moving, or it'll be the end of you!" Paul roared loudly as he rushed at Ryker with a wooden practice sword the two of them sparring within the training room for the past hour. Paul quickly went in for a mighty slash from his practice sword, but Ryker quickly dodged the attack and went in for a stab. Paul quickly dropped down to the ground and entered a full spin, swiping Ryker's feet right out from under him.

Stepping back Paul prepared himself for another attack as he knew Ryker never stayed down for long and just as expected Ryker leaped forward. The two of them traded hit after hit, nether one of them letting up until finally after nearly three minutes of hit after hit Paul finished the match. With a quickly dodge Paul rushed forward and hit Ryker in his opening, with one powerful slash at Ryker's ribs the match was over.

Ryker was a powerful fighter who could take out nearly anyone in his unit, but Paul was the very few that could give him trouble and always send him falling on his ass. Yet, each day Ryker felt himself getting stronger under Paul's leadership as he truly did respect Paul as if he was a General of some sort.

"Excuse me, is this Scouting Team Six?" A voice called out curiously as the two turned around to see a young faced eighteen year old girl behind them, she held the rank of Private and was obviously fresh out of training. She wore the Military Police Scout badge on her uniform so it was obvious she had applied and completed the Scout training, but in Paul's eyes she wasn't a true Scout until after she came back from her first mission alive.

"Yes, it is." Paul stated coldly as he put away his practice sword on the rack and got onto his knees, reaching his hands into a bucket of cold water he splashed it upon is face. Paul trying his best to ignore the young Private as he knew very well that she was probably one of his new replacements for his team and he didn't want to deal with baby sitting a girl straight out of training.

Scouting teams were usually led by a Corporal who was in charge of three to five other soldiers, during their battle against the Tyranitar Paul had his other two team members assigned to another squad and sadly during the mission they had perished. With Scouts in a high demand all across Kanto, Paul truly thought he wouldn't be getting a replacement and he was fine with that. He had trained Ryker from the day he joined his team and knew he could trust the Lance Corporal, however Paul had seen replacements fail him many times and didn't want a new one to hold him back in the field.

"Private. Melody Fleura, I've been assigned to your team!" The soldier cried out as she handed her assignment paper over to Ryker as Paul was trying his best to ignore her.

Ryker looked over he paper work and was pleased to see she ranked number five within her class of graduates, she was from the Orange Islands but enlisted after a military recruiter arrived at her island looking for trainers to aid in the fight. While, many of the men and women from her island joined up with the Naval division she however joined the Military Police, something that Melody was proud of as her older brother was a member of them up in the Northern sector of Kanto, "Number five within your class. Nice!"

"Thank you," Melody stated with a respectful bow which caused Ryker to rubbed his neck in embarrassment as he wasn't use to that type of respect as most lower ranking soldiers were on a buddy to buddy relationship with him.

Paul still continued to ignore her as he packed up his training bag.

"Where's the rest of the team?" Melody asked as she had heard that the team she had been assigned to had four members within it.

Paul simply gave her a cold response, "They're all dead."

With that Paul walked off. Ryker knew that Paul wasn't a bad guy he just didn't like to have people holding him back in combat and that was why Paul pushed Ryker so hard in training, the two had been with each other long enough that Paul saw Ryker as someone who he could rely on in combat something that not even higher ranking soldiers had earned in Paul's eyes.

Most people saw Paul as heartless, but Ryker knew better.

Paul just didn't want to die...

"Lance Corporal. Ryker Summers, at your service!" Ryker laughed in a friendly manner as he shook the confused hand of Melody as she didn't know why she had been given the cold shoulder by her team leader.

"Nice to meet you, I'm very sorry about your team though," Melody stated as she wasn't exactly sure how to confront such a terrible situation.

Ryker nodded in thanks for her kind words, but his eyes just stared at her as the reality was both him and Paul were truly hurt when they found out that the other two were killed in action. They were just starting to gain Paul's trust and then they died... Ryker knew that it would take a long time for Paul to trust Melody.

"Let me show you around!" Ryker chirped happily as Melody smiled at her kind words.

**So a knew character has been introduced her character is based off, Melody from the movie Pokemon: The Movie 2000 or also known as The Power of One haha... Such a classic Pokemon movie. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight. Here's the new chapter and sorry for the long wait, I've been a bit busy. So, did anyone else watch the four episode special of Pokemon Origins? If you're like my and grew up with the old Pokemon then I know you truly appreciated the series, it was great!**

The Viridian City Officer's Bar was a local bar where high ranking soldiers within the Military Police could escape from the regular enlisted men, sit back, and relax from all the regulations at the base. Recently though, with the increase in Shadow Pokemon activity the bar would get fewer the twenty visitors a night and the bar wasn't rarely full, but being a military funded business the bar never worried about having to close down. The bar had its usual members drinking away their sorrows as they told stories about their recent missions to the local waitresses who would gasp in awe. In the farthest corner was a single table hidden in a nook like corner that was lit by a single candle, two Military Police soldiers stood guard as a curtain had been drawn so the occupants of the table could talk privately.

"Falkner, you know that's something really big to be assuming," Koga stated in a aggressive whisper as he sat in his seat uncomfortably as his eyes starred at the ever so calm, Falkner. The flying type master and pilot had flown all the way to the Military Police's head quarters in order to speak to Koga and to clear up what had happened the other day, but that wasn't the only thing the two were discussing.

Falkner frowned slightly at Koga's words as he spoke up after a sip from his mug, "You know it's true. So why won't you believe?"

Koga's muscles became tight as he sat back and groaned lowly in agitation, "It's not that I don't believe you."

Falkner's eye brows lifted up in curiosity as he placed his mug back down on the table not even bothering to wet his lip with the liquid inside, "Then what is it?"

There was silence between the two as Koga's eyes scanned the collection of files and paper work that Falkner had went digging through in order to gather proper proof about his assumption. They both knew that all the files proved that Falkner was correct in nearly every way, but at the same time there was so much to loose by following up with the plan that Falkner had created.

"I just don't want to believe you," Koga sighed as he knew Falkner may be right, but the reality was Koga feared something like this would occur especially involving someone with such a high influence.

Falkner grinned in victory.

"But your plan does have some flaws," Koga sighed as the young officer shrugged as it was obvious that he knew the much older and experienced officer would have some things to change within his plan.

"Please share your input," Falkner stated with a grin as he was just happy that Koga was all for the plan.

Koga cleared his throat before speaking, "He is the leader of the Infantry Division so if we were to send anyone with ties with them he'll know about it before we can even issue the orders. Secondly, we can't send any Special Force unit as I'm sure he has someone watching over them as those would be the first people that would be sent to capture him, so I think it'd be best if we sent the people that he'd never expect... The Military Police."

Falkner grinned at the plan as whenever a soldier committed a crime the Military Police would arrest them, but someone as high as a General would never expect a group of basic Military Police members to be sent after them. It was such an obvious idea, but yet their target would never see it coming at all.

"The rest of the plan is fine, naturally we won't be informing the soldiers fully of the situation as that could make things more complicated," Koga stated as he kicked his feet up onto the table and sighed heavily.

"I agree. As far as they're concern they're just arresting a simple soldier gone rouge," Falkner chuckled lowly as he stood up and saluted Koga right before exiting the bar, as he had to get back to his base before sun rise or the Airmen at his base would get suspicious as to why he was absent over night something he wanted to avoid as it could grab... Lance's attention possibly.

"We are coming for you, General." Koga muttered lowly.

* * *

"Of course we get the mission that will take us half way across Kanto!" Gary growled annoyingly as it was his first day back to duty and the squad had been given a mission to go arrest an Infantry officer who had gone rouge, the details were within the briefing file that Brock had and everyone would be brought up to speed once they hit the road.

"Orders are orders," Brock growled annoyingly as he shoved his gear into an extra bag as he gave Gary an annoyed glare for saying such a thing when he was a Lance Corporal and should of been acting as a role model for the others within the squad.

Their load out for the mission was a standard wagon pulled by two Tauros who were specially bred by the Military Police Scouts to carry heavy loads for weeks on ends and with the ability to run as nearly as fast as a Ponyta without a heavy load of course. The cart had a white tarp over the top to shield them from bad weather, inside the wagon was a small steel caged used by the Military Police for mobile arrest, along with a stack of wooden crates filled with supplies, and the taking up the remainder of the cart were four cot like beds, two nailed onto the side of the cart's inner wall for sleep. The squad wouldn't be given any Pokemon to ride besides the cart pullers as after the last mission all Ponyta and Rapidash were being given a long rest.

"Scouting Team Six, reporting as ordered," A voice called out as everyone turned to see no other than Paul, Ryker, and a new faced girl who must of been the new replacement for their team. Ash grinned at this sight as he was given a better sense of safety when Koga informed them that they'd allow them to hand pick on Scouting team to aid them in the mission. Brock picked Paul's team from the performance he saw them do in the last mission, but he warned Paul that this mission was not a Scouting mission so that Brock would be under full command, Paul didn't argue with the statement at all.

Brock nodded at Paul who simply nodded back, the two had an understanding that Paul and Ash would be his acting second in commands, and that Ryker would keep a close eye on Melody acting as her mentor and guard, as Brock wasn't looking for any casualties on this mission.

Melody followed closely behind Ryker and Growlithe as she had been ordered to be at his side at all times during the mission, her Pokemon companion was no other then her childhood partner, Chatot. The Pokemon known for mimicking human speech was something that Paul wasn't not looking forward to dealing with, but after discovering that the Pokemon knew how to use Sing he was very interested in using the flying type to his advantage in battle.

"You must be new, I'm May!" May cried out joyfully as she extended her hand out at Melody.

"Oh... I'm, Private. Melody Fleura!" Melody chirped happily as she was slightly embarrassed that she brought up her ran in casual conversation, the habit still fresh in her mind from basic training.

"Names Dawn and I feel sorry for you, Melody!" Dawn said teasing Melody with a playful grin.

"Why is that?" Melody asked curiously as she was still nervous about her first real mission.

Dawn simply shrugged, "You were placed on a team with two super human soldiers like, Paul and Ryker."

Melody sweat dropped as she had heard the rumors about the two and how Paul had the highest kil record on the last mission, while Ryker was not far behind the Corporal with his solo kills. May smiled softly as she patted Melody on the back, "Don't worry you got us girls here to show you the ropes!"

Melody smiled weakly as her nerves were slowly being taken care off by the reassurance that May had given her.

"Lets move out!" Ash called out waving his arms high in the air to grab everyone's attention.

"Lets move out, move out!" Chatot repeated Ash as the young Corporal sighed as he realized that was going to get old really quickly.

**It was a short and simple chapter, just a filler chapter to push the story into the next mission.**


End file.
